Love & the Zombie Apocalypse

  Rachel stole a glance at Lindsay – who’d she completely forgotten about. Lindsay wouldn’t make eye contact with her or Cage. Rachel felt a twinge of guilt for kissing Cage in front of her. Just a twinge.

  Adam held the man down with his foot. He was still alive, but his breathing was labored. The whites around his eyes were bloodshot. “What should we do with him?” Adam asked Cage.

  “He’s about to turn,” Cage said.

  “Shoot me,” the man whispered.

  Adam raised his eyebrows. “What was that?”

  “Shoot.” The man coughed and blood trickled down his chin. “Shoot me, God dammit. I don’t want to -” He didn’t finish his sentence. His head rolled to the side.

  “Shoot him before he turns,” Nicky said. “Man, I need a slice of pizza.”

  “Stand back.” Cage aimed the gun at the man’s head and squeezed the trigger.

  ~ ~ ~

  They were so screwed.

  Adam stood on a table in the dining room of Gianni’s Pizzeria. Through a slit in the boarded window, Adam could see hundreds of zombies. They were shoulder to shoulder, bumping into each other. The Strip looked exactly like it did after a big football game - thousands of people swarming the street. Unfortunately, this time they were all dead.

  Selena laid a hand on Adam’s back. “How bad is it?”

  “We can’t go out the front.”

  “Or the back.” Lindsay crossed her arms. “I should’ve stayed in Flint.”

  “I wished you would’ve stayed in Flint,” Nicky said. “Then my ears would get a break from all of the complaining.”

  Adam exhaled. The girl was even more pissed off since Rachel and Cage’s stock-room floor / heat of the moment / death hanging over you / kiss. Adam might have felt bad for Lindsay, but he didn’t. She wasn’t a very nice person. She was rude and annoying and Adam understood what Cage and Rachel felt at the time. No one knew how much longer they had. They could all die in a blink of an eye. Adam slid his hand behind Selena’s neck and pulled her under his chin. He didn’t want to waste any minutes with Selena either.

  “Do any of you have a plan of how we’re going to get out of here? Because I don’t.” Nicky shoved a slice of cold pizza into his mouth. He closed his eyes as he chewed. “Best. Pizza. Ever.”

  Cage glanced at the ceiling. “Is there roof access?”

  “That’s it!” Nicky stood up. “The owner always tossed t-shirts and prizes from the roof after games.”

  “We’re going to the roof?” Lindsay asked. “Then what? We jump to our deaths? Dumb plan again, hippie. Why don’t you just focus on your greasy pizza?”

  “No,” Adam said. “I’m going to the roof. I’ll create a diversion and you all are going to make a run for it.”

  “Absolutely not.” Selena shook her head. “No.”

  “It’s a good plan.”

  “No. Why you? Why does it have to be you?”

  “Because I’m the best one for the job,” Adam said. “I’m a firefighter, remember? Jumping off buildings is what I do for a living.”

  “That’s a cool job,” Nicky said.

  “What kind of diversion would you create?” Cage sipped a bottle of water and handed it to Rachel.

  “The buildings on the Strip are connected,” Adam said. “I’ll go to the end of the roof, down by the taxicab and show myself. Hopefully, all of the zombies will shuffle down to me and you guys can run to campus.”

  “How will you get away?” Selena asked.

  “I’ll run across the roof and shimmy down the other side.”

  “That’s too dangerous,” Rachel said.

  Selena motioned to Rachel. “See? Even she says it’s too dangerous and she’s crazier than you – no offense, Rachel.”

  Rachel shrugged. “None taken.”

  “We don’t have another choice,” Adam said. “I’ll be fine.” It was an incredibly stupid idea, but he knew what they were facing. They were trapped in a pizzeria with a sea of zombies surrounding them.

  “I found this behind the counter.” Nicky handed Adam a megaphone. “The owner used this baby when they tossed t-shirts from the roof. Sometimes he’d get girls to show their -”

  “I get the picture,” Adam said. “Thanks.”

  “I also found a wad of cash,” Nicky said. “Not that it’s worth anything now. Maybe when everything goes back to normal. If it ever goes back to normal.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Cage handed his pistol to Adam. “I’m not a great shot, but at least you won’t be alone.”

  “No,” Adam said. “They need you more than I do.”

  “What exactly is your plan of escape?” Rachel rested the bat lightly on her shoulder like she was on deck at a baseball game.

  Selena’s face was puffy from crying. “Whatever it is, it’s stupid.”

  “Selena,” Adam said.

  “It’s suicide.” Selena pushed a strand of hair from her face. “You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it.”

  “If I don’t do it, then we’re all dead.” Adam put his hand on Rachel’s shoulder. He couldn’t look at Selena anymore. It was too hard. He didn’t want to upset her, but this was the only way he could protect her. “Rachel, I’ll meet you guys at Peabody Dorm.”

  Rachel bit her lip. “How are you going to get away if all of the zombies are watching you?”

  “I’ll figure something out.”

  Selena’s sobs grew louder.

  “Where’s the roof access?” Cage asked.

  “In the stock room,” Nicky said. “Right above where that weirdo tried to shoot us.”

  “We’re going to make a run for it?” Lindsay looked at Cage. “That’s the grand plan? Make a run for it and hope the million or so zombies don’t see us and eat us?”

  Cage shrugged.

  “It’s hardly a million,” Nicky said. “More like a thousand.”

  “They’ll be distracted.” Adam chugged a bottle of water.

  “Hopefully,” Lindsay said. “Or we’re all going to die.”

  “How about showing a little gratitude?” Rachel hugged Selena. “Adam’s risking his life, so we have a chance to get out of here.”

  “Is everyone ready to go? You’ll only have a small window of time to make a run for it.” Adam shrugged on a backpack. “Run fast and be quiet.”

  Selena squeezed his arm. “Adam, please don’t do this.”

  “This is the only way we have a chance.”

  She wrapped her arms around him. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” He wiped the tears from her face. “I’ll see you at Peabody Dorm.”

  Rachel led Selena to the front door. Rachel glanced over her shoulder at Adam. She didn’t say a word, but he understood everything she’d said – Be careful, come back to us. Don’t worry about Selena.

  “Nicky, will you show me where the roof access is?” Adam swiped the megaphone from the table.

  Nicky pulled down the attic door from the ceiling. A wooden ladder unfolded from the opening. “It’s up there, dude. There should be another door in the attic that leads to the roof.”

  “We won’t go until you’ve given us the signal.” Cage held the ladder.

  Adam put his foot on the first rung. He glanced down the hallway and saw Rachel comforting Selena. He hoped to God this wasn’t the last time he’d see her.

  “I’ll look out for her,” Cage said.

  “I know,” Adam said.

  “We’ll wait for you at the dorm.”

  “Don’t wait too long,” Adam said gravely and climbed the ladder.

  ~ ~ ~

  Nicky and Cage walked back into the pizzeria’s dining room. Selena felt like she was going to puke. How in the world had they gotten themselves into this mess? First Vivienne dies from a scratch and now Adam was sacrificing himself.

  “Is he up there?” Selena asked.

  “Yeah, we waited for him to make it into the attic and find the door to the roof,” Cage sai
d. “Adam is going to hop the buildings to the end of the row where the taxi was abandoned in the street. He’ll give us the signal when it’s clear.” He sat beside Rachel and checked the bandage on her forearm.

  A screech sounded from outside. Selena’s head snapped up as Adam’s voice shouted over the megaphone: “HELLLOO, ZOMBIES!”

  They raced to the window. It was boarded with pieces of table, but they could see between the cracks.

  “HERE ZOMBIE, ZOMBIE, THIS WAAAAAY!!”

  “I should have volunteered to go on the roof.” Nicky slapped his leg. “Dang it! I would’ve sounded so much better over the megaphone.”

  Through a small sliver in the window, Selena saw legions of ice blue eyes glancing upward.

  “Is it working?” Rachel peeked out.

  “I think so,” Nicky said. “It’s hard to see.”

  “THEY’RE MOVING!” Adam’s voice amplified over the air.

  Selena looked again. It was working. Within seconds, the slow moving sea of bodies turned into a rushing river. The creatures shoved each other out of the way in a fever of snarls and groans as they raced toward Adam.

  Nicky gripped a board. The muscles in his arms flexed as he pulled the piece of wood from the door.

  “What are you doing?” Lindsay squeaked.

  “Um, how else are we going to make a run for it?” Nicky responded.

  “They’ll hear you!”

  “No, they won’t.” Nicky worked on another board.

  Selena closed her eyes and waited for Adam to speak again. She could imagine him running on top of the roof, waving his hands in the air, screaming at the hundreds of zombies on the streets. How was he going to get away?

  Cage and Nicky pulled the scraps of wood from the door. The zombies were still progressing to the left, but the majority of the horde was gone.

  “DON’T I LOOK DELICIOUS? COME ON, TRY TO GET ME! OVER HERE!”

  Ten seconds went by without a zombie passing the door.

  “Should we go?” Nicky asked.

  “No, Adam said he’d give us the signal,” Cage said. “Everyone get ready.” He kissed the back of Rachel’s hand.

  “For the record, I’d like to say this is stupid,” Lindsay whispered. “If I die, I’m blaming all of you for my death.”

  “Would you shut up, already?” Nicky said to Lindsay.

  Selena resisted the urge to slap the girl and slung the backpack on her shoulders. She held Adam’s lead pipe tight in her hands. She would fight for Adam. She would not be a liability.

  “GET READY YOU GUYS! ON THREE,” Adam screamed.

  Cage twisted the lock on the door. “Stay close. Run as fast as you can.”

  “ONE.”

  Selena gripped the lead pipe. Nicky moved to the rear. All of the girls – Selena, Lindsay and Rachel - were together in the middle. Cage grabbed the door handle.

  “TWO! I LOVE YOU SELENA!”

  Selena choked back a sob. Fear grew in the pit of her stomach.

  “THREE! GO!”

  Cage opened the door and they raced out of the pizzeria. Selena didn’t look back. She focused on the back of Rachel’s head. A curtain of long blonde hair bounced in front of her face. The sounds coming from the zombies were horrifying - groaning and growling and snarling. They were salivating at the mouth for Adam. She couldn’t bear to see him on the roof alone.

  Adam’s voice rang out loud and clear over the megaphone. “OH SHIT!”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Adam edged to the end of the building. He leaned over as far as he could, dangling himself as live bait. It was the only way he could get the zombies’ attention. He had to be as flamboyant and loud as possible so they could see and hear him. All of their lives depended on it. Selena’s life depended on it.

  It was a dumb mistake and probably a fatal one.

  He scooted too far over the edge. One of the bricks slid loose and Adam’s right leg gave out. The megaphone slipped from his hand and, out of pure reflex, he reached to catch the stupid piece of plastic. He cursed as the momentum propelled him over the edge of the building.

  ~ ~ ~

  Rachel heard Adam’s curse over the megaphone and her heart sank. What happened? Selena slowed. Rachel reached behind her and clamped a hand around Selena’s wrist. “We can’t go back there,” she whispered.

  “He’s in trouble,” Selena cried.

  “Shhh!” Lindsay ran past them. “They’ll hear us!”

  They reached the end of the Strip and rounded the corner of the last building. Rachel had to drag Selena the rest of the way.

  “Please, we have to go back,” Selena pleaded. “Adam needs our help. He would do the same for us. Please.”

  “She’s right,” Cage said. “I’ll go check on him.”

  “Check on him?” Lindsay said incredulously. “Are you crazy? You can’t help him now. There are too many zombies.”

  Rachel kept silent. Lindsay was right, but she didn’t want to upset Selena.

  “I’ll sneak around the corner and look,” Cage said. “It will take two seconds.”

  “Cage,” Rachel said.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “Adam hasn’t said anything over the megaphone since he cried out,” Nicky said.

  “Maybe he dropped it,” Selena countered.

  “Maybe.” Nicky looked over his shoulder. “We need to make a decision. We can’t stay out in the open.”

  “I agree with Nicky.” Lindsay placed her hands on her hips.

  “Then I must’ve said something rude and shallow,” Nicky said.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m going to see if I can see Adam on the roof,” Cage said.

  Nicky threw his hands in the air. “Never say that dude! ‘I’ll be right back’ means instant death!”

  Cage ignored Nicky and disappeared around the corner. Rachel’s stomach squeezed into knots. She couldn’t imagine what Selena felt right now.

  One minute passed.

  Two minutes.

  Rachel’s heartbeat raced. Three minutes.

  Cage rounded the corner. His eyes fell on Selena. “All of the zombies are still gathered at the end of the Strip. I didn’t see Adam on the roof. I didn’t see anything, but zombies.”

  Selena sobbed.

  Nicky put his hand on her shoulder. “Selena, honey, maybe he didn’t make it.”

  “Nicky!” Rachel hit his arm.

  “What?”

  “No, I know he made it. He’s okay, I can feel it,” Selena said.

  “Let’s go to the dorm. That’s where Adam said he’d meet us,” Cage said.

  ~ ~ ~

  The roar of their growls was thunderous. Transparent blue eyes filled every inch of pavement below. The zombies bumped into each other like an angry mob - groaning and snarling and snapping their jaws as they reached for Adam’s dangling feet.

  Adam had caught the edge of the roof during his fall and now he was holding on for dear life. His fingers were slipping. The muscles in his arms were on fire and his hands were sweaty.

  This was it.

  He closed his eyes and thought of his mother.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Selena was inconsolable. Cage wasn’t sure if she could make it to the dorm. He practically dragged her, with Selena fighting him every step of the way, but somehow they managed to make it to campus. They passed a few straggling zombies, but the group stayed hidden in the safety of the shadows.

  “There it is.” Rachel pointed.

  Peabody Dorm’s front glass doors were smashed to pieces. Glass glistened over the cement like diamonds. Not a single light was on in the six-story dormitory. The building looked abandoned.

  They had survived a carjacking, the Wooden Barrel, the fire station, his parents’ turning, the hillbillies at the gas station, they trekked miles on foot, escaped a horde of zombies – all for this moment. Peabody Dorm.

  “Adam is on his way?” Selena asked hopefully.

  “He said he would meet us here.” Cag
e stepped inside the broken door, careful not to brush against the jagged edges. Rows of mailboxes lined one wall of the common room. Public bathrooms were to the right and in the back of the room sofas surrounded a flat screen television.

  A stairwell with a keypad led upstairs to the dorm rooms. Normally, the keypad blocked access to anyone who didn’t have an ID card. Not this time. The door was propped open by a bloody body, half in and half out of the doorway. It should have been a safe place for the children – locked behind a secure door – but anything could have slipped by with the door wedged open like that.

  “Do you know which floor Morgan was on?” Cage asked.

  Rachel shook her head. “The science camp had two floors of students in Peabody. The other floors were empty for the summer.”

  “We should split up and search each floor,” Cage said.

  “Split up?” Nicky’s dark eyebrows rose. “Haven’t you ever seen a horror movie in your life? You never, under any circumstance, split up. Splitting up equals death. Always. There’s absolutely no exception to that rule. Obviously, I’ll have to explain these rules to you later.”

  “There are hundreds of zombies outside,” Cage said. “If any of them get a whiff of us in here, then we’re sitting ducks. We need to get in and get out as quickly as possible.”

  “Quack, quack,” Nicky said.

  “What?” Cage turned to Nicky.

  He pointed at the shattered front doors. “We’re sitting ducks, man. Dead ducks.”

  Selena screamed. “Adam!”

  Adam was a hundred yards away, running without his shirt, toward Peabody Dorm. On his heels was an army of zombies. It looked like all of the zombies from the Strip had followed him.

  “Holy crap,” Lindsay muttered.

  Adam waved at them. “Get inside! Hurry!”

  “He doesn’t know that the front doors are broken,” Rachel said.

  Adam leaped over the curb and up the front lawn of Peabody dorm. “Get back!”

  “In here!” Rachel tugged the dead body away from the access door. “The doors will lock.”

  “That’s not going to stop all of those zombies!” Nicky said. “They’ll knock the hinges right off the door.”